Scattering Shadows
by Saadie
Summary: The first time Aaron Hotchner met Harrison Potter, all he was concerned about was whether or not Jack would be safe with him. The last thing he was expecting was to need his help to crack a series of unrelated cases - but he still doesn't know that yet. Rated M for case contents.
1. Chapter 1

**Scattering Shadows**

**Chapter One**

**By: Saadie**

* * *

A/N: I have recently been mercilessly drawn into the world of Criminal Minds so I really couldn't resist writing a fanfiction on it. And being the huge HP fangirl that I am, I couldn't resist a crossover. I have, unfortunately, watched this amazing show in an odd order where I started in the middle of seventh season, finished it, and then went back to the beginning. I am currently just a few episodes into the third season so I have huge gaping holes in my working knowledge of the CM-verse which is filled in mostly by facts I'm picked up reading other CM fanfics and lots and lots of google. With that being said if I get anything wrong, please don't hesitate to point it out to me, all input is welcomed with open arms and triple chocolate cookies. Pairings are currently undecided, there may also just be no pairings. Excuse the cheesy title; I am terrible at naming things. Hopefully I will get better before I have kids.

Also, did I mention that I don't own anything related to Criminal Minds or Harry Potter? Because I don't. If I was, I would most certainly not be remain broke university student. Enjoy!

* * *

Aaron Hotchner surveyed his team through the window of his office with calm eyes. They'd been in the bullpen for two days now, catching up on paperwork, but everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before they were called away on another case again. The last case had been a bad one. A crazed megalomaniac had taken it upon himself to "pick up where the great Hitler started" after his wife had died in a car accident and the other party (a Jewish male) had survived. He had carried out his disturbing mission until the team managed to catch him nearly a week after being on the case. Twenty one dead in New Jersey. Eighteen of them from Jewish families, the other three from various minorities that were not "privileged to be part of the Aryan Race", killed in the last day in the killer's desperation to complete his mission as he devolved.

They had arrived in time to save two children that he had taken hostage. The children were alive but not unharmed. They would carry those scars, numbers carved crudely into their forearms, with them for the rest of their life. Even if the physical scars faded, would the emotional damage done to them ever truly fade? And if they jolted awake every night screaming or grew up to be jaded and suspicious of the world around them, who could truly blame them?

A knock on his door broke him out of his increasingly depressing thoughts. Cases involving children always hit everyone harder. Even now he could still see the prominent circles under Reid's eyes.

Turning quickly he was met with the sight of J.J. holding up a stack of files. "We've got another case, sir. Minnesota, three dead," she offered with a terse smile.

Aaron suppressed a sigh and accepted one file, flipping it open to read on the spot. "Inform the others, briefing in the conference room in five."

"Yes sir," she nods and exits the room.

Already Aaron can see the team is sitting up straight, eyes turned towards J.J.'s approaching form. None of them liked to stay in the bullpen for long even if that would, technically, mean that there was less crimes being committed out there.

But they were field agents for a reason; they needed to be out there, _doing_ something. Sitting here in the bullpen, knowing that somewhere out there murders and rapists were running loose and under the radar ate at their very souls. Aaron pushed that out of his mind for now, whipping out his cellphone to call Jessica. He had been hoping he'd be able to spend the weekend with Jack but it seems like the world had other things in mind. If he was lucky, this would be a quick case and he could be back by Sunday morning to spend the afternoon with his son.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end sounded distracted.

"Jessica? It's Aaron. I need you to pick Jack up from school and watch him until I get back. I'll try to be back by Sunday."

A sigh, "Oh Aaron, I can't take him this weekend. I'm going out of town for my friend's wedding, I told you that."

Aaron tensed; what could he do now? He couldn't leave his team but if Jessica was going out of town, who could watch Jack?

Just then Jessica's voice filtered through the speaker again. "What about this? Aaron do you remember Jack's best friend?"

Aarons' mind raced, trying to pull up a name. Jack had loads of friends and his 'best friend' had changed three times over the past two years and for all that he was able to analyze most situations, the senseless politics of children often evaded him. Finally his mind settled upon a pale little boy with bright green eyes and messy black hair, "Albus Potter?"

"Yes, that boy! His father runs a daycare. I've had them watch Jack for me a few times before when I couldn't pick Jack up on time. The father, Harrison, picks up the children from his son's school personally. Jack loves him, says he makes the best cookies and makes up the most entertaining games. Has he mentioned him to you?"

"Yes," Aaron could vaguely recall Jack rambling about a 'Mister Harrison' who let him have an extra caramel fudge cookie for being good and finishing his homework first. "Yes I remember him. Is he safe? Will he take Jack for the weekend?"

"Oh I'll call now and ask. And Harrison's an absolute sweetheart, don't worry! There's not a single person who knows him who could find anything wrong with him. I'll call you back after I talk to him, alright Aaron?"

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Aaron had no other choice but to agree and hang up the phone. He suppose it would have to do for now. He'd have Garcia run a background check on this Harrison Potter for criminal records or suspicious activity. Nothing too invasive, just enough to make sure that Jack would be safe with him.

With that thought in mind, Aaron picked up his half-read file and made his way towards the conference room.

He sat down with a nod to J.J. who was setting up the projector. Within minutes, Rossi and Prentiss filtered into the room, murmuring their own greetings with Reid and Morgan bringing up the rear, cups of coffee clutched in their hands. They settled into their chair and turned their attention to the screen.

Pictures of two men and one woman appeared in front of them. "There have been three known victims so far, all found mauled to death in Minnesota, North Woods, more specifically in the Border Lakes Subsection. The three bodies were found miles apart from each other in a recreational park just south of the great lakes."

A click later, the previous bright smiles were replaced by photographs of three barely recognizable bodies. The flesh was bloody and mauled, at parts the bones were visible. It was as if something had ripped out large chunks of the body and chewed on the rest of it.

"The first body found was Eric Silva, aged 23, happened upon by a group of extremely unfortunate hikers. Family reported him missing a week after he had left for his trip to the park and never contacted them again. The rangers then swept the park and found the next body, Samantha Camp, aged 19, dead in the same fashion about three miles east of the first body, never reported missing. The last body, Warren Gallo, aged 22, reported missing two weeks prior, was found two days later, west of both bodies by a ranger while on patrol. Decay analysis place Warren as the first to be killed, followed by Eric and then Samantha. Subsequently, many animals have already made a feast out of the remains and it became difficult to determine whether the victims were mauled to death or killed and then left out purposefully in the path of large predators so evidence could be destroyed. Either way, reports place Warren and Eric's death within three days of each other, roughly three weeks ago while Samantha is believed to have been killed recently. Given the large time gap, authorities believe that there are more bodies out there that have yet to be found."

"You know," Reid interjected, "I'm surprised that the two male bodies are so intact. Or, er," he continued seeing the looks and raised eyebrows, "as intact as they are now."

"You call that intact?" Morgan asked, pointing to the photographs of the badly mauled bodies, "Dude's missing at least half of his body !"

"What I mean is, if they really were left out for predators three weeks ago, there should be even less of them remaining. I mean look, even though some of the limbs are torn from the victim's body, the bones remain approximately where the appendage should have been if they were still attached. Most animals would have carried the limb off with them if they ripped it out of a piece of their meal."

"So you're telling me that someone came back and put the body back together?"

"It's possible," Reid shrugged in his signature manner, eyes cast towards his own hands.

"Okay," Aaron cut in, "everyone grab what you need, wheels up in thirty. We'll finish the briefing on the jet. Garcia?"

"Yes sir? What can I do for you today?" the chirpy voice of their Technical Analyst filtered through the speakers of the laptop.

"I want you to run a search for a list of all the missing persons reported within the last three months who are in their late teens to early twenties," Aaron leaned in close to the speaker with a glance at the now empty screen.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"And one more thing, Garcia. I need you to run a background check on a Harrison Potter from Virginia; it does not pertain to this case. Check for criminal records or other suspicious activity," said Aaron in a low voice, even so, Rossi looked at him with a raised eyebrow but he waved the Italian away, mouthing that he'd explain later.

"Your wish is my command, I'll have it for you on the plane,"

"Thank you Garcia." Aaron ended the call, snapping his phone shut. With a heavy sigh, he headed back to his office to retrieve his overnight bag. Hopefully Potter would check out clean and Jessica would call back with good news. Sometimes, he wished he could just bring Jack with him, as irrational as that sounds. With nothing else to do but wait, he pushed open the door to his office, intent on collecting everything, trying not to glance at his watch obsessively until Jessica called.

* * *

So hopefully my constructed case(s) weren't too hard to swallow. Anyone too OOC? I'm trying my best here guys, I swear! Abnormal Psychology was my worst course so far (probably because my Prof was obsessed with Africa, Nazis and Aliens – I kid you not; although that would explain why Hitler came up in this chapter) so I promise to try and do my research properly but please, again, forgive me if I make mistakes. Also, why is Harry Potter in Virginia? I actually have not come up with a reason for that yet. But you will find out when I do, promise. I was worried I'd have to tweak the timeline a bit to make Albus and Jack the same age, and then I googled and they're BOTH born in 2005! I feel like I hit jackpot here! So that puts them both at around 6-7 years old right now in case anyone was wondering.

To anyone who's actually interested, the reason why I'm still only on the third season is because I am a very paranoid person with an active imagination and Criminal Minds brings out the worse in me. I was quite convinced that my coat stand was a person standing behind a door waiting to kill me one night. My thought process after several episodes of Criminal Minds generally goes something like this:

"_I walk into my room. The lights are off. It's dark. I can't see anything except the faint glow of my laptop screen. I maneuver myself so that I can shut the door behind me. It's pitch black now. And for some inexplicable reason, during the five seconds it takes for me to reach out and flick on the light switch, I am utterly convinced that I will turn to find someone (in my mind it is a man, taller than me but faceless still) standing behind me. I turn on the lights. Force myself to turn around. The empty space behind me brings about a sense of relief so palpable that I find myself reeling with the thought of just how real my fear is. It's an irrational fear, deeply rooted in paranoia and given strength and cause to flourish by an unnecessarily florid imagination. I wonder how long I can stand peering into shadows until I drive myself mad."_

So yea, am I in love with this show? YES, absolutely, I'm enamoured with it and in love with Reid and Morgan (separately or together, whichever works). Am I scaring the life out of myself every day because of this? Yes. I most definitely am. Excuse me while I run and grab a knife to sleep with.

One last note, I am not American. You may have already been able to tell by the way I spell things, but let me repeat, I am not American. That means I do not know American geography/history/cultures…etc. I'm relying on google and I'm making up what I can't find. If I make mistakes or offend anyone, I'm sorry. Again, please feel free to correct me. I am very new to this fandom as well, so if you could all kindly take the time to review and tell me how you felt it went, it would be greatly appreciated!

Reviews are love?

-Saadie

(Sorry for that REALLY long note at the end guys hope it wasn't too much?)


	2. Chapter 2

**Scattering Shadows**

**Chapter Two**

**By: Saadie**

* * *

A/N: Criminal Minds and Harry Potter is still not mine. And Harry officially makes his debut in this chapter, yay!

* * *

Harrison James Potter was in the midst of contemplating one of life's most troubling dilemmas when his cellphone went off. Cursing silently at the shrill echo of his phone ringing throughout the supermarket, he dropped both packages of chocolate chips into the cart to fish out his phone from his right pocket.

"Hello?"

"Harrison?" a vaguely familiar voice asked, "Hi, this is Jessica, Jack's aunt?"

"Oh hi Jessica! How're you?" Harrison answered her cheerfully; hopefully this wasn't bad news, the woman already looked so tired half the time.

"I've have a favour to ask you. I'm heading out of town for my friend's wedding this weekend but Jack's father is going to be away on business again. I was wondering if you could take him? Just for the weekend! I'll pay extra for overtime at the daycare."

Harrison smiled softly, half-heartedly browsing through shelves and trying his best to steer the shopping car with only one hand. "Of course Jack can stay over, we'll be happy to have him and Al will be ecstatic. And don't you dare try to pay for this Jessica! Why on earth would I charge anyone anything when my son's best friend sleeps over?"

He could hear Jessica's sigh of relief through the phone, "Oh, that's great, thank you so much Harrison! I'll call Aaron with the good news; he was so worried that no one would be able to watch Jack. Do you mind if I give him your contact information and address? If he gets back from the trip early, Aaron will be the one to pick Jack up."

"Of course, it's no problem at all Jessica. I'll just take Jack home with us tomorrow then?"

"Yes please, thank you so much for this again Harrison."

Harrison chuckled, "It's no problem at all Jessica. Jack's an angel and he's always welcomed over. Let me know if you need someone to watch him again in the future okay? I really don't mind at all."

"You're a saint, Harrison Potter you know that? Oh I've got to go now, I still have to pack and Jack has soccer after school today."

"I'm far from a saint, Jessica, and good luck with everything! I'll talk to you later then, bye."

She echoed the farewell and ended the call. With a sigh, Harrison slipped his cell back into his pocket coming to stare at the two packages of chocolate chips again. Should he take one back out or just leave it?

By the time he hit the check-out, both packages were still in the cart. He'd rather deal with hyper children than children complaining about that their promised cookies didn't have BOTH types of chocolate in them; if things got too bad, he'd just slip a calming potion into their juice again. Magic made everything so convenient sometimes.

* * *

Aaron was waiting for the jet to take off when his phone rang. Picking it up quickly, he glanced at the caller id before he snapped it open. "Jessica?"

"Yes it's me Aaron. And before you ask, yes, Harrison can take Jack for the weekend."

Aaron felt himself relaxing just a little from relief. He had been worried that there would be no one to watch Jack but his grandparents. Haley's parents loved Jack but hated Aaron and the last time they had watched the little boy, Jack had come home very upset, asking his daddy why grandpa and grandma said all those mean things about daddy. Aaron had been livid and informed them that until they could learn to watch their tongues around impressionable little boys they wouldn't be taking care of Jack again. Even Jessica had been noticeably upset with her parents when she found out; there were, after all, certain things you didn't speak of in front of five year olds. "Thank you, are you sure he's-"

"Harrison is a wonderful person and a great father and he would never hurt Jack or let any harm come to him," his former sister-in-law cut him off before he could finish his question, "In fact, he's already offered to watch Jack for us again if situations like this arise in the future. Now I'm going to send you Harrison's phone number and address. If you get back early, you can call and go pick up Jack, I already told him you might be the one to pick Jack up."

"Alright then, thank you Jessica. I'm sorry for the trouble."

"I'd do anything for Jack, Aaron. You know I love my nephew." She was silent for a moment before speaking briskly again, "Now I've got to finish packing and I still have to take Jack to soccer practice this afternoon so I'll speak to you later. Hopefully, you'll be back early; Jack's been looking forward to spending time with you. Goodbye Aaron."

"Goodbye Jessica, and thank you again."

Aaron looked up after ending his call to see his team staring at him. He had gotten a little better at sharing his personal life with his team over the years but he still met the questioning eyes with a raised eyebrow.

"Problems with Jessica? Jack?" offered Rossi.

Aaron shook his head, "No, possible crisis adverted. Garcia?"

The laptop screen flared to life, "Yes, oh highly esteemed leader?"

"Do you have the information I asked you to pull up on Harrison Potter?"

"Why you can bet your lovely-"

"Garcia," Aaron cut in.

"I mean, yes sir, of course I do. Let me just pull it up for you right now." They could hear faint rapid clicking in the background, "Harrison James Potter, born July 31st, 1980 to James Charlus Potter and Lillian Marie Potter née Evans. He was born in Godric's Hollow, Somerset, England; there are no hospital records, couple used a midwife. Parents killed by a terrorist at the age of one, oh the poor boy, custody was given to his maternal Aunt, Petunia Claire Dursley née Evans and her husband Vernon Paul Dursley. Attended a public school in Surrey until the age of eleven when he was transferred to the same private school in Scotland his parents attended. Graduated and then married his high-school sweetheart, Ginerva Tessa Weasley, a year later. Went into specialized police training for two years before dropping out and attending Harvard University for a double degree in Business and Childcare of all things, huh our boy's a weird one. He has three children, James Sirius Potter, aged nine, Albus Severus Potter, aged seven, and Lilly Luna Potter, aged five."

"Who the hell names the child Albus Severus?" came Morgan's incredulous tone.

"Morgan!" scoled J.J., hushing him even though he had asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

"Albus comes from Roman roots, meaning 'white' or 'bright' in Latin. Severus is also a Roman family name, meaning 'stern' in Latin. The name could be attributed to the parent's aspirations for their child, but judging from the names of the other children, James and Lilly for the deceased grandparents, the names could well be from other family members or friends that they wished to commemorate."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I get that Reid, but couldn't they have found more, I dunno, normal relatives to remember? I mean, Albus Severus, common'! The kid's gonna get teased forever throughout his school years."

"Okay, focus guys, this is not the issue at hand here. Anything else noteworthy Garcia?"

"Well, our Mister Potter has separated, they've been divorced for three years now and Potter moved to the states with full custody of all his children following the divorce. He's been running a daycare in Virginia for just over two years now. Is he watching Jack for you, Hotch?"

"Yes, he is. Any criminal records Garcia?"

"None that I can find, which means, well, there are none because I can't find them, then they don't exists. Oh! Harrison's godfather was the mass murderer Sirius Orion Black the _third_, yeesh that's downright pretentious, who was convicted of murdering thirteen people, including his own best friend Peter Pettigrew in 1981 right after Harrison's parents were killed. He was believed to be part of the terrorist cell that killed his best friend's family. It says here that he escaped from a high-level containment facility in 1993 and was declared innocent _post mortem_ in 1998 following the capture of Peter Pettigrew who confessed to the twelve other murders committed in 1981 and staging his own death to frame Black. Wow, someone should write a book about this, this kind of drama is un-real. Following his death, the government unsealed his will and he left everything he owned to his godson Harrison. Oh my! Hotch, did you know that your son is being babysat by _British Royalty? _Oh, my gosh, do you think he has Prince William's phone number? Do you think he knows the Queen?"

"What? Garcia, royalty?" exclaimed Prentiss as she traded bewildered glances with J.J. who looked equally as shocked.

"The system lists Harrison James Potter as the holder of two titles; Earl Potter of the Ancient and Noble house of Potter as is his birthright and Duke Black of the Ancient and Pure house of Black through his godfather who conferred the title to him from the grave."

"Well damn Hotch, you certainly don't do things by half," joked Morgan.

The team, led my Garcia, exploded into wild speculation of what the Potter household must be like. "Okay enough!" Aaron half-yelled, pitching his voice so that he could be heard over the chatter, "Focus on the case at hand, _not_ my son's babysitter."

"Can we come with you to pick Jack up?" chimed Garcia.

"_Enough_ Garcia, okay people what do we know about this killer so far?"

The group settled eventually and Hotch sighed internally, sometimes he felt as if Jack wasn't his only child with the way his team conducts themselves.

"Okay, the Unsub seems to be targeting people in their late teens and early twenties, they're not discriminant about the gender but all victims have been brunettes with a Hispanic background. Both males a similar in build and all victims resemble one another; they could pass as siblings. Perhaps surrogates for someone in the Unsub's life."

"Victims don't seem to have been moved; they may have been chased and hunted down until they were killed but the forest is not just a dump site, they were killed there," continued Morgan smoothly.

"The bodies were also found intact, as Reid pointed out earlier, even though there are chunks of the body that have been eaten, the entire skeletal structure was accounted for," added Prentiss.

"So the killer had to have been watching while whatever it was ate the body and stopped the beasts from carrying off parts of it? So the animals would have had to been trained," reasoned J.J.

"The victims were all just passing through; they were there at the park to just take some time off alone. Their campsites were found but there are no signs of a struggle although local authorities have reason to believe that there was someone else present at the scene," Reid frowned, "So the Unsub could potentially have posed as another camper. They would probably be in their twenties themselves, an age that the victims could relate to and feel comfortable enough with to interact with and invite back to their campsites."

Rossi peered at the photos again, "Given the level of violence exhibited, I'm more inclined to say our Unsub is likely to be male. Handsome and charming, the victims felt comfortable with him, he actively tries to befriend his victims before the attack, gets their guard down."

"If there are no more bodies found and this is a pattern, the Unsub is likely to have approached his next victim already. Samantha Camp was found yesterday that gives us potentially forty-two hours before the killer strikes again. Get some rest, we should be there in an hour. I want everyone rested and ready to go as soon as we hit ground. Let's make this a fast one guys."

Various affirmations sounded from around the plane before Morgan teasingly added, "And then we can all go home and visit Jack's royal babysitter, right Hotch?"

Aaron's lips twitched upwards minutely, "Rest, Morgan, we can speak of this when we return."

"Soooo~ that's a yes?" came Garcia's sing-song voice through the speakers.

Aaron responded by settling into his side of the couch and closing the laptop.

* * *

In his kitchen, Harrison Potter was forced to turn away from the cookie batter as he was overcome by a violent sneezing fit. Perhaps he'd better take a Pepper-Up before picking the kids up, just in case. Wouldn't want to pass anything on to them.

* * *

And here's chapter two! I have problems following deadlines I set myself; I planned to have this out yesterday. Thank you to everyone who took the time to review! I have **never** gotten as large of a response as this for any of my stories! I posted the first chapter, went to sleep and then woke up to find my inbox filled with 'follows' and 'favourites' as well as several of your lovely reviews. You all made my day several times over and I was so giddy I bounced around at work. With that in mind, I will try to get one last chapter out before school starts again and I'm swamped by readings, deadlines, and assignments alike. Not that I'm going to stop writing when school starts, but just a warning that updates become more sporadic once my profs decide to blindside us with tests.

A few of my friends whom I've shown this to have expressed their mirth at the idea of Harry running a daycare. I just think it's cute.

How was chapter two for everyone? If I made any mistakes, please don't hesitate to point it out to me. To everyone who reviewed as a guest, I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond to you but thank you for your reviews all the same. I hope to hear from you guys soon!

Show some love, hit review? (:

-Saadie

P.S. If anyone just wants to chat, feel free to PM me. I'm always up to make new friends (:


	3. Chapter 3

**Scattering Shadows**

**Chapter Three**

**By: Saadie**

* * *

A/N: I really don't have a good excuse. Time just kept getting away from me and I severely underestimated my workload school-wise and overestimated my ability to juggle school with two part-time jobs. I can't begin to describe that gut wrenching feeling I got every time I was notified of a follow, an alert, or a review from this story – I feel like I've failed you guys by not finding the time to write. So finally, with a slight gap between mid-terms, I forced myself to sit down and churn out this chapter. Hopefully, it's not that bad. Please accept my apologies for the long wait; I'll try to avoid a repeat to the best of my abilities. Here's a -slightly- longer chapter as an apology?

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or Harry Potter; why on earth would I be working two jobs and still be pretty much broke if I did?

* * *

"Daddy!"

Harrison barely had time to steady himself before three tiny missiles of doom barreled into his legs. Falling over was a near thing; only practice and luck saved him from becoming acquainted with the concrete sidewalk outside his children's school again. Beside him, several parents snickered into their hands or smiled openly at the familiar sight. Every day at exactly three-thirty pm, Harrison Potter could be found waiting for his children and chatting amiably with his fellow parents. And at exactly three forty-five pm, James, Albus, and Lilly Potter would come hurtling out the front doors to greet their father with unbridled enthusiasm without fail. No one could remember a single time when Harrison Potter's children did not greet him with a smile. To them, it was as if he hung the sun in the sky and commanded the moon to rise at night. More than one parent found it ridiculously endearing, especially when the other children from the school whom Harrison picked up for his daycare would join the three Potter offspring in attempting to dog pile him.

Laughing lightly as he swung Lilly into his arms, gave James a one-armed hug and ruffled Albus' hair, Harrison Potter was a sight that made every single mother in the vicinity swoon.

" 'tandhesaidthatshesaidthatyou saidthathecouldcomeoverand-"

"Woah, woah, woah!" chuckled Harry, "slow down there tiger! Take a deep breath and then start again, _slowly_ this time, mind you."

Albus Potter nodded solemnly, determined to complete the task his father set before him, "Jack told me that his Aunt said that he might be coming over to stay for the weekend. Is it true? Please daddy! You have to say yes!"

"I already agreed Al. Jack is going to stay over for the weekend until his father or Aunt comes to pick him up."

"Yes!" Albus cheered, pumping his fist into the air.

Instantly James and Lilly began vying for his attention, "What? Daddy! That's not fair! Can my friends stay over too? Please, please, please, please, please?!"

"Alright, here's the deal kids. Everyone gets one guest over this weekend _if_ their parents are okay with it, alright?"

Both children cheered, Lilly stopping to press a kiss to his cheek before squirming out of his arms and racing after James to go find her friend.

"Tony! Tony! Daddy says you can come over for the weekend if your mum says yes! Do you want to? You're not busy right? Go ask her now!"

"Mel, mel! Do you want to come over for the weekend? We can play princesses and have tea parties! Daddy says you can if your mommy says yes too!"

Harrison chuckled under his breath at the sight of the children badgering their parents about the extended invitation. In the absence of his siblings, Albus had burrowed into Harrison's side, short arms just barely coming around the man's waist. Harrison looked down at Albus's upturned smiling face with a raised eyebrow. "Thank you daddy! You're the best and I love you!"

Harrison crouched with a wide grin, sweeping his second son into his arms and pressing a kiss to his forehead, "Aww, thanks Albus. I love you too."

Soon permission from parents was procured to the delight of several ecstatic children who whooped loudly, cheering and hopping madly around their parents. After agreeing to finalize any details later that night by phone, they said their farewells and Harrison gathered up his children and all of his other charges. Forming their usual two lines with hands clasped between buddies and the eldest farthest away from Harry, the group set out on their ten minute walk away from the school towards the daycare.

The younger children were happily chattering away at Harrison, rambling on and on to tell him about their day and their lessons while the older children chat amongst themselves, occasionally calling out to Harrison with a question or comment. To any onlooker watching the doubled-lines of almost thirty children chaperoned by a single adult, they would have shook their heads at the hectic day that individual must have in front of them but Harrison found that he thrived in this environment.

If someone had told Harrison years ago that one day he was going to the be the proud owner of a daycare, he probably would have laughed and brushed them off, assured in his path to become an auror just like his father.

But now, he couldn't see himself as anything else. He loved children and loved his own children more than anything in the world. To be able to make a career out of caring for them was something that he never realized could feel so rewarding. When he had first landed in the States with the kids in tow, he hadn't a clue as to what he was going to do. Childcare seemed to be sorely needed everywhere though with busy parents who couldn't afford not to work and watch their children instead.

So Harrison had dipped into the Black fortune – it barely made a dent – and applied for a business license, bought out an old warehouse near a primary school, knocked the whole thing down and then built The Doe's Den in its place. It was homage to his mother and really, the thought of all those stuck-up Blacks rolling in their graves at the thought of their amassed fortune being used to build and fund a daycare for _muggle_ children still gave him the giggles. If anyone asked, of course, he would insist that they were very manly giggles.

Now The Doe's Den has been up and running for just a little over two years now and was wildly popular with most of the families in the area. With the Black and Potter fortune, Harrison was able to ensure that the children got nothing but the very best. He had no need for money – really, he had more than he could spend in a lifetime at least a hundred times over – so he was able to charge a reasonable amount for middle-class families and offered a discounted rate for struggling families. He arranged for transportation from three other schools in the area, made sure his staff was trained and screened, had the entire building child-proofed, and continued to add fixtures that he felt benefited the kids every now and then. The Doe's Den was a project he was more proud of than anything and staring down now at the beaming faces of the children, Harrison could safely say he was happier with his job than being an auror ever made him.

* * *

They landed without issue except for a bit of turbulence that had woken up a grumpy Morgan and thrown a startled Spencer into his best friend's lap, garnering a laugh from both J.J. and Prentiss who snapped a picture on her phone to show Garcia. Aaron has chosen to steadfastly ignore them while Rossi barely twitched at their behaviour, opting to focus on napping for as long as possible.

Hitching the strap of his overnight bag higher up on his shoulder, Aaron strode towards one of the two cars that were waiting for them outside the airport. Two men who were leaning against the hood of one of the cars chatting straightened and then came forward to greet them.

"Eric Rickler, Chief of Police around here, this is Deputy Orlan. You must be the BAU team. Thank you for coming out here so quickly, the whole thing has us thrown; not many murders out here and certainly not like this."

Aaron shook their hands firmly. Eric Rickler looked to be in his mid to late thirties, balding slightly, light brown hair, and watery blue eyes set in a serious face. The deputy was also in his thirties, though younger than the Chief, of a stockier build, a buzz cut and a kind face.

"Thank you Chief Rickler, Deputy Orlan, SSA Aaron Hotchner and this is my team. This is SSA Prentiss, SSA Morgan, SA Jareau, SSA Rossi and Doctor Reid."

They each shook hands in turn except for Spencer who gave his little customary wave, shifting away slightly with an awkward smile at Chief Rickler's slight pause. "It's a pleasure to meet you all although I wish it was under different circumstances. If you'll all just follow me, we can head back to the station."

"Actually," Aaron cut in, "I'd like to send part of my team to the scene of the crime if that's possible. It's highly likely that our killer will strike again within forty-eight hours."

"Of course, Deputy Orlan can take your team to the site, it's just a little more than a half hour drive from here."

Aaron nodded, "Thank you, Morgan, Prentiss, Rossi, head to the scene of the crime, the rest of the team will set up at the station. Chief Rickler, please lead the way."

The man gave a brusque nod before gesturing for them to follow him to the cars. They piled in within second with an efficiency that belayed their experience with such situations and was soon speeding off towards their respective destinations. Aaron stared out the window, watching the concrete buildings give way to trees – he couldn't remember the last time he was at a recreational park for vacation instead of work. Steeling himself for the long journey they had ahead of them, he sat back and reviewed the facts in his head.

Chief Rickler pulled in sharply at the station, a modest building on a small plot of land that straddled the line where the wilderness began and where civilization ended. Aaron nodded to the Chief in thanks and slipped out of the car in one solid motion. "Chief!" an officer had rushed out the door as soon as they caught sight of the car, "They found another body! Another female, early twenties, similar appearance as we can see from what's left of him; they're working on identifying the body now but it seems like she was killed around the same period the two other males were."

Rickler cursed underneath his breath, "That sick son of a bitch," turning solemn eyes to Aaron, he continued, "pardon my language Agent Hotchner, but I hope you guys are up to catching the bastard soon."

"Our team is the best at what we do sir. We'll do anything we can to find them."

"Well I sure hope you do it fast. This many dead tourists can't be good for publicity," Rickler mumbled before making his way towards the door of the station, motioning for them to follow.

J.J. sidled up beside Aaron, eyebrows raised and eyes wide, "Is he seriously worrying about tourism right now?"

Reid patted her awkwardly on the shoulder while shrugging, "Well, it wouldn't be the first time we've seen this."

J.J. sighed, "I know, I just, God, it never fails to get to me how wrong some people's priorities are."

"Be glad it still bothers you," Aaron replied, slamming the trunk shut with one hand, bags in the other, "The day it fails to do so is the day you realize you lost an important part of who you are."

Pushing past the glass doors of the station, they were met with instant chaos. The phones were ringing off the hook, officers were scrambling everywhere and several had resorted to shouting over the racquet to be heard. At the far end, Chief Rickler was waving his arm around to get their attention in the same manner one might try to flag down a taxi in New York City. "You can set up in the room at the back," he said once they weaved through the mess of frantic bodies, "I'll have send someone over with the rest of the files, is there anything else you need?"

"Have you been in contact with the victims' families?" asked J.J.

"Yes, we have. The Silvas and the Gallos are actually driving over as we speak. The Camp couple refused to belief that it was their daughter; they hung up on us after we made the call and have been refusing to pick up ever since. "

"Alright, if you could give me their number, I'd like to try and get in contact with them again. As for the other families, please notify us when they arrive, anything they can tell us could be crucial to cracking this case."

Rickler's eye twitched slightly at the blonde's authoritative tone but he swallowed his pride and nodded. "Of course," he answered tersely before turning sharply on his heel.

"Well then, I'm going to start setting up, try to see what Garcia can pull up about our unknown victim that just cropped up," J.J. decided, taking the laptop and two other bags from Aaron and moving towards the room.

"I'll start mapping the area of where the bodies were found to see if we can pin down a dump site or a pattern. I have a feeling we're missing a lot of bodies," muttered Spencer as he too hurried away into the room to spread out his maps, eager to pull out his numerous coloured markers and give some meaning to the area.

Aaron allowed himself half a second to feel pride in how much his team has grown and come together over the years. They were a well-oiled machine, a perfect team where everyone knew what tasks to tackle and when to cover for someone else. It seemed like just yesterday when Reid was still unsure of himself and J.J. struggling slightly with her transition into the role of a profiler instead of a media liaison. Shaking his head, Aaron turned, intent on hunting down all the officers who had been involved with this case initially – this was no time for wool-gathering.

* * *

"Damn son, this place is huge!" Morgan watched as the trees seemed to swallow the worn dirt path their car followed. They passed under a worn wooden sign declaring this to be "Birchpoint Park".

"How much land does this park cover?" asked Prentiss, leaning over from the backseat to address Deputy Orlan.

"Somewhere around five-thousand square miles," he answered, eyes never straying from the road.

Her eyebrows shot up, "Impressive."

"More like trouble," Morgan snorted, "I'm surprised you guys managed to find the other bodies at all when you combed the area."

"Which just about guarantees that there are at least half a dozen more rotting out there somewhere. How many people man this place?" Rossi shook his head wearily.

"Upwards of two hundred staff members, about a hundred of which are rangers."

"That's a lot of people," remarked Morgan.

"You mean a lot of suspects. The unsub could be any of them; do the staff live onsite?"

"Yes, hang on, the terrain around here gets a little rough."

As if waiting for that cue, the car instantly hit a rough patch that nearly sent Prentiss careening into Morgan's seat. Laughing although he was also narrowly avoiding the side of the dashboard, he turned to her with a cheeky grin, "Better do up that seatbelt properly Prentiss, wouldn't want to lose you to a windshield."

She rolled her eyes but leaned back to settle against her seat. Turning to an unmoving Rossi she furrowed her brows, "How are you not affected by this at all?"

"Skill my dear, skill and practice," he flashed her a smug smile.

She rolled her eyes, pausing slightly to smack the back of Morgan's headrest, "Stop laughing."

Fifteen minutes later they pulled up next to a series of cabins. Morgan was the first to disembark, whistling, "Well, I can see why so many people come here to relax now."

"Well you can put that thought out of mind, we're not slotted to go on leave until half a year later."

"Kill joy," he snipped playfully.

"Just the truth. How far are we from the scene of the crime?" Rossi turned towards the deputy.

"A quarter mile, just wait here while I get a ranger to lead us there; they know all these shortcuts I can't seem to remember," Orlan moved towards the cabin.

"I'll come with you," called Prentiss, "I want to ask them some questions."

Orlan shrugged, "By all means."

* * *

A melodic ping sounded causing Harrison glanced around. The children were busy guzzling down the cookies that they had baked earlier – some were in gigantic clumps, others odd blobs, but each and every one of the cookies had been shown off proudly. He walked over to Pamela, one of his senior staff. Tapping the petite brunette on her shoulder to get her attention, he bent down slightly to whisper into her ear, "I'm going to step out for a moment to take a call, can you take care of clean up with Joseph, Madison, and Eva?"

Pamela smiled, eyes crinkling cheerfully, "Go on My Lord, we can handle things here. I was raising children before you got married!"

She made a shooing motion and Harrison raised his hands in surrender playfully, "Alright, alright. As you wish my fair lady."

Sweeping an exaggerated bow, he turned swiftly and ducked out of the room before the kids could catch on and demand to know where he was going. Hurrying upstairs, he brushed past the muggle-repelling wards without a thought towards the hidden third floor. Turning into his study, he unlocked it with a wave of his hand and headed towards his floo.

"Harrison?" the head of a pretty Asian girl floated about in his fireplace.

Even years later, he still wasn't quite used to seeing a head and nothing else appear in his fire. "Hey Fei, how're you?"

"I'm fine, thank you, and I trust you are well?"

He had met Fei after he moved to the states; she was one of Cho's cousins whose family had immigrated three generations back. When she found out where he was moving, Cho had given him Fei's floo address insisting that it was, "Better to have someone you can contact in case of emergencies. You never know. If not, well then, you still have a friend amongst strangers. "

And Fei's help had been almost life-saving for Harry within the first year. She was a cheerful young woman and more than willing to go the extra mile even for someone she hadn't met before. At first, Harrison had been a bit wary of her, wondering if it was his Man-Who-Defeated status or power as Paterfamilias of two ancient houses that motivated her. But she never brought it up, never even mentioned it, insisting that a friend of her cousin's was a friend of her's and finally snapping and launching into an impressive rage for someone usually so mildly mannered, "If you question me one more time, Morgana help you Harrison, your children will have two mothers instead of one!"

Within the first month, she set him up to meet with the American Ministry of Magic, contacted people to get his floo working, sent Goblin contractors over to ward his property and gave him tours of all the magical pockets within America. She made sure he got acquainted with the slightly wilder and less tamed magic of the states and the creatures that tended to crop up now and then unexpectedly. When he had mentioned such a thing to Hermione, she had launched into a lecture about leylines and Natural Magicks, Chaos Magic and whatnot. He had left that floo-call with a headache from information overload much to Fei's amusement; luckily, she sat him down later in the week and explained it all to him again in layman's terms.

"As good as I'll ever be. Is something the matter? You don't usually call during the day," he settled upon the floor in front of the floo, sitting comfortably on the colourful plush rug Luna had sent as a house-warming gift (she insisted it was made by Humdingers and would help keep the Blubbingfubs away from the children).

"Yes, and sadly not good news. The Ministry has just been alerted that the Mundane government is investigating a series of murders that they think involve a rouge wizard or a creature. I'm just giving you a heads up in case they come knocking on your door."

Harrison groaned; no matter where he went, it seemed that people had the tendency to come to him with the expectation that he'd solve all their problems for them. At least with the Americans it had to do with his skills and power instead of his name and stupid prophecy, but ministries world-wide tended to have some incompetent and pushy members. Members he desperately wanted to avoid but who tried time and time again to convince him to work for them.

"Yes, thanks for the heads up Fei, are you free this weekend? The kids miss their Auntie Fei," which was only half a lie; the kids did love their Auntie Fei who seemed to have default baby-sitting duty as his closest magical friend in the states.

She rolled her eyes, "I was just here last weekend; they can't miss me that much. What's the real reason?"

"Alright, alright, you caught me. I have kids sleeping over for the weekend and I could totally use some help," he grinned as charmingly as he knew how.

Fei laughed, "You run a daycare Har, it's nothing you can't handle."

Harrison mockingly pouted, "So is that a no?"

"I'll be over tomorrow night around six. Dinner better be on the table slave!"

"Yes oh magnanimous one! I throw myself at your feet for your mercy of accompanying your poor servant!" Harrison joked while pretending to bow to her over and over again.

She sniffed delicately, "Good, I'm glad you know your place," a laugh broke her character and she smiled, "I'll see you at six then. I've got to go, my boss wants the draft done by tonight and the department in charge of the layout had an intern who made a complete mess of things. If I'm here till midnight again, I'm going to strangle him with his stupid skinny tie."

Harrison chuckled, "Of course, of course, how dare he? I'll see ya, later Fei."

"Fare thee well, My Lord!"

Her connection cut off before he could complain about the nickname. He hated being called "My Lord" and she had passed it on to his staff who thought it was hilarious to annoy him. Dusting off his pants, he rose to his feet and left the room. If he was gone for any longer, one of his children was sure to slip away and bound up the stairs to find him.

* * *

Did it disappoint? Let me know! I'd like to take the time here to apologize to everyone who took the time to review – I am so sorry I wasn't able to get back to most of you; I read each and every one and delighted over all of them. I still can't believe that I have eighty reviews for this story, it's unreal for me. Thank you all so much for this amazing response; I'll do my best not to let you down. I will definitely try to stay on top of things from now on and make the time to write more. For those of you looking forward to Harrison meeting anyone from the team, that won't happen for at least two more chapters but you can definitely look forward to the BAU team's first interaction with the supernatural soon!

Again, if I made any mistakes, please let me know, all of my writing are un-betad.

Show some love?

-Saadie

(ahaha, now I'm just being greedy :3)


	4. Chapter 4

**Scattering Shadows**

**Chapter Four**

**By: Saadie**

* * *

A/N: Finally back after a long and unintentional break. The team realizes something mysterious is going on, Harrison enjoys himself with the kids, and tragedy strikes back at the site.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or Harry Potter; why on earth would I be working two jobs and still be pretty much broke if I did?

* * *

Aaron sighed heavily and flopped down unto the stiff motel bed, bones aching and dead tired – Rossi was in the shower and thus unable to witness this uncharacteristic behaviour from the normally controlled and reserved Hotchner. They had been there for a day now and although different pieces of the puzzle were slowly being unearthed, they did not seem to fit together in a way that made sense. It was almost as if someone had handed them the pieces of a puzzle that had a painting on both sides but did not match – when one side could be seen the other was jumbled beyond belief.

"The shower's all your's if you want it," David's voice cut through his brooding and he sat up with a curt nod, suppressing another heavy sigh.

David reached out to lay a heavy hand on his shoulder as he rubbed the water out of his damp hair, "Don't worry so much about it, we'll get him."

Aaron laid his hand upon David's in silent thanks before rising to wash off the grime they had all collected throughout the day.

It had been a productive day in that they had completed numerous tasks, but as many said before, the more you do, the more you find has yet to be done. The body of the female that had been discovered shortly after their arrival had been identified as Natalia Alves, aged twenty three. Her remains had been in the same condition as the other bodies, mauled by wild beasts, ripped apart but with the remaining pieces unnervingly close to the original kill site. Pictures of her before death revealed that she held a startling resemblance to the deceased Samantha Camp.

Undoubtedly, the victims served as a surrogate for the Unsub, perhaps even as surrogates for his own family due to the resemblance between both male and female victims. Perhaps it was towards the Unsub's own siblings; due to the involvement of several presumably trained and deadly animals as well the extreme violence of the murders, the Unsub was likely male and pegged to be around the age of twenty and thirty-five, lending more credence to the sibling theory.

Gathering his toiletries and pajamas from his over-night bag, Aaron slipped into the bathroom, turned on the shower and started to methodically strip and fold his clothing neatly. The heat of the steam from the shower turned to full blast filled half the room by the time he was finished. Setting the basket of toiletries at the edge of the tub, he climbed into the rust-stained plastic basin and yanked the shower curtain shut, moving to stand under the hot blast of water.

Tilting his head back, Aaron was content to just stand under the relentless spray, allowing the water to turn his skin fire engine red and momentarily wash away all the tension built up during the day. But even then, his mind continued to wander back to the case.

Close to noon, Reid had announced that his mapping confirmed that the attacker was moving across the park from west to east and suggested several possible dump sites. Five hours of trekking through wilderness to places no vehicle could take them, the only one who wasn't breathing hard from exertion was Morgan and even he was working up a sweat after. They managed to unearth two more dump sites through Spencer's mapping and found five more bodies, pushing the current body count to nine and potentially more according to Spencer's map. It was a chilling thought that haunted the minds of most of the team even as they were forced to withdrawn in response to the dying sunlight.

Five more bodies. Five more names. Five more faces to haunt them in their sleep.

What they haven't been expecting was that one of the bodies sported a bite mark on the victim's lower left thigh that remained recognizable beyond just the mauling of a famished, vicious animal. They had had Garcia run it through the system, trying to narrow down the animal that had been used to commit the crime.

Fifteen minutes later, Garcia called back to tell them they were looking for wolves. Specifically the Canis Dirus. Which, according to Spencer, was a scientific impossibility because the Canis Dirus, more commonly known as the Dire Wolf was a species that had gone extinct roughly nine thousand years ago and they all knew that if Spencer recited a fact, there was no need to cross-check it; it was truth.

Even after Garcia had run the scans again for other canine species that might have similar dental prints, none had offered a close enough fit to match the distinctive bite mark left on the corpse.

Confronted with a serial murder that was apparently committed by a man who had control of trained, full-grown wolves that should be extinct, Aaron cut off that train of thought the moment he felt his headache returning. Instead, he rinsed the suds out of his hair and then picked up the bright purple loofa from the travel set of toiletries that Garcia had gifted him with last Christmas, insisting that good hygiene, although a must, should also be fabulous. He paused, wondering if he should use conditioner as well before relenting, deciding he'd much rather skip on another of the tech's rants about how to take better care of his hair lest he go bald prematurely. With his job, Aaron didn't see how there was any way the stress wouldn't strip the hair from his scalp within the next few years but Garcia had been adamant.

And although he'd never admit it, the loofa did afford him a sense of cleanliness that helped psychologically while traveling on cases. Even if the brilliant LSD worthy purple looked laughably out of place beside the rest of his luggage; at least he wasn't Spencer. He drew the line at a pink the same shade as a cotton candy machine on fire but poor Spencer hadn't known how to placate the tech analyst and has since been guilted into bringing his set with him on each and every one of their trips.

* * *

"Thank you so much again for doing this, Harrison. Really, I'm so sorry I gave you such short notice about this."

Harrison laughed lightly, "It's not trouble at all, Jessica, really. Jack's a joy to have over and Al has been over the moon since last night, besides, Jack will be on his best behaviour, won't you buddy?"

Jack nodded brightly, "I will, Mr. Potter! I'll be really good! Can we make cookies again?" he asked, bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet, sneakers squeaking and backpack flopping noisily against his back.

"We'll see buddy," Harrison answered with a smile before looking up at Jessica once more, "You really didn't need to come all the way over just to see Jack off Jessica, I know you're on a tight schedule."

"Oh, I know, I know. But Jack's father is a little fussy and I wanted to make sure that Jack had everything in order. The secretary in the office I left his stuff with can be a little forgetful at the best of times."

"Well then, it was probably best that you came."

"It was, she nearly forgot to give Jack his sleeping bag, and I know you have extras at your house, but it's the principle of the matter," Jessica crouched down to Jack's level, smoothing his hair back with a smile, "Well, Auntie's got to go now Jack, you be good for Mr. Potter, you hear? I'll see you when I get back."

"Okay Auntie Jessie, I'll be good. I'll miss you."

She smiled and kissed his forehead, "I'll miss you too, bye sweetie."

"Bye Auntie!"

"Good-bye Harrison, I'm sorry but I've really got to go now. Thank you again for taking Jack for me!" she called over her shoulder as she half ran towards her car.

"Have a safe trip Jessica!" he called back with a grin.

"Alright Jack, let's gather everyone and get back to the Den. Are you excited for the weekend?"

Jack nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! Al said that he got more action figures and James said that _maybe_ we could borrow his detective kit so we can play Catch the Unsub!"

"Really now? And what's Catch the Unsub, Jack?" Harrison asked conversationally as they strolled towards the group of chattering students waiting by the doors in slightly skewed lines.

"It's a game where you have to catch the bad guy before he can hurt more people but you have to figure out who it is first! It's what my daddy does!"

Harry ushered the children to the daycare while Jack continued to explain the game to him. It sounded like his father was some type of specialized police officer and he wondered if the Aurors had anyone equivalent to Mister Hotchner's job – if anything the Americans might, it sounded a tad too _modern_ for the British and their traditions. He wished he knew more but starting from the half year ago that Al came running hand in hand with Jack to announce that they were now best friends forever he had never met Jack's father. It had always been Jessica, Jack's aunt, who dropped him off or picked him up from both the daycare and the Potter household.

Looking down at the happily chattering child, he wondered if it was hard for him to constantly be without his father. From the sounds of things, his father loved him very much too – Harrison couldn't imagine being away from his children for such long periods of time. It played a huge factor into why he had decided to leave the elite Auror taskforce as well as – after the divorce he hadn't wanted his children to only have a parent around maybe half the time when they had already lost their mother. He allowed his mind to drift in the direction of his ex-wife.

It had been shortsighted of them, to put it diplomatically, to get married straight out of school. He had gone back to Hogwarts for his final year and she had returned to repeat her sixth year before going on to her seventh while he got drafted into the Auror program. They had married the instant he graduated despite Arthur's protests that Ginevra* was not even out of school yet; Molly had shot all of their protests down, insisting that it was romantic and that they "needed some good and happiness in their lives after so much bloodshed".

It hadn't lasted.

In hindsight, it was glaringly obvious where they had gone wrong. They had been so young and so _broken_, him more than her, but both of them had been damaged by the war and being the stubborn people they were, they had refused to acknowledge the fact that they had problems, had never tried to fixed things before trying to move on.

They had been drifting apart when Ginevra had fallen pregnant with James. Harrison had been ecstatic; Ginevra had had more mixed feelings. They were too young to start a family, she had said, she wasn't sure that she was ready. She had seen how much it took to raise children – her own mother was a glowing example of what was needed to be sacrificed – and she had been scared she wouldn't be able to be a good mother. They had fought numerous times over whether or not to keep the child. Eventually her love for the child she was bearing and his intense need for a family had won out and they had chosen to keep the child.

"Mister Potter! Mister Potter! You has'ta open the door!"

The children's shouting and tugging at his sleeves jolted him out of his increasingly depressing thoughts. "Sorry, sorry!" he laughed, reaching into his pocket to pull out his keys, "caught me daydreaming, eh?"

He searched for his eldest son in the crowd, a warmth swelling in his chest when he saw him laughing happily with his best friend. Yes. He stood by his decision now and he would forever. He loved his son and nothing could ever change that.

* * *

Derek slammed the door to the SUV as hard as he could without worrying that he might break the door. More bodies. It was disgusting. How long had this asshole been killing people? Possibilities whirled through his mind. If only they had gotten here faster, if only someone had figured out something was wrong sooner, if only the first body was found earlier.

Frustrated, he spun and punched the nearest tree, relishing in the flare of pain in his hand as the bark bit into his knuckles. Emily looked on with pursed lips, wearing her disapproval of his anger like a shroud. She had always been able to keep ridiculously calm in contrast to his more emotional responses. It was just a product on their upbringing – she learnt from the knee of her mother how to never show what she felt on her face; he had been used to expressing himself physically from a young age.

They currently had Garcia combing through all the profiles of the rangers, narrowing it down to all males from twenty to thirty-five and cross-referencing for all with a background handling dangerous animals or more specifically large canines or wolves. Even after narrowing the search down to those who held a resemblance to the victims left them with over twenty profiles and still no definite suspect. They couldn't even narrow it down to the usual handful of possible Unsubs.

He gave a barely audible sigh before turning to stalk off towards the newest dumpsite. There was work to be done.

* * *

Glowing amber eyes watched the large, muscled man who smelt of plaster and sandalwood stalk away as they remained hidden amongst the undergrowth. A growl rumbled deep within his throat; these fools were desecrating his treasures, intruding upon _his_ lands. Could they not tell that this was land he had claimed? How dare they waltz in here and then proceed to trample his plants and overturn his precious graves?

He tracked them as they moved, running faster than any of their pathetic _muggle_ vehicles could move in the terrain. This was his land, they were his prey, and he would be damned if they ruined it all for him. Perhaps he ought to lay out bait, yes, yes he would. He would entice them to stay even as night set upon them and then they would be completely at his mercy. He would show them then. To think that a bunch of disgusting good-for-nothing muggles believed that they would be able to catch him when the ministry didn't even know of his movements yet was laughable.

He watched as a tall, lanky youth who smelt of sugar, aged paper and ink gestured wildly to the plaster-scented man and then tripped on a tree root, nearly flying face-first into a tree if the plaster-scented man hadn't caught him. Pathetic, he sneered. He'd get him first, the one who smelt of sugar, aged paper and ink, he'd get him when the plaster-man wasn't around to save him. And then they'd see that he was far superior to them.

* * *

Harrison stood, humming in the kitchen as he stirred the risotto; it was a stubborn but delicious recipe that Fleur had taught him. He blamed her prowess on her being French – she had laughed and just insisted he needed to learn how and when to stir risotto properly. Hopefully this time he wouldn't burn it and end up with more risotto stuck to the bottom of his pot than was edible. The light chime of the doorbell rang through the house, "I'll get it!" yelled Lilly** as she raced by, Albus hot on her heels.

Cursing under his breath, he switched the heat to low and hurried after his children, "Lilly! Albus! It could be a stranger at the door! How many times have I told you not to open the door when I'm not there with you?"

"But daddy! It's not a stranger! It's Auntie Fei! You told us she's coming to visit today so it has to be her," came his daughter's matter-of-fact tone; Harrison stifled a chuckle at the Hermione-esque answer.

"And if it's not? You have to learn to be careful, Lilly-flower, what if it's a bad man coming to get you?"

"Don't be silly, daddy! We have you!"

Before he could get in a word edgewise, Lilly and Albus had opened the door with an excited shout.

"Auntie Fei!" screamed Lilly as she tackled the Asian woman.

"Hello children," she greeted with a laugh, "how are my favourite Potters?"

"I thought I was your favourite Potter, Fei?" teased Harrison from his spot in the doorway.

The children were quick to offer up protests even as Fei moved to embrace Albus. "Hmmmm, I don't know Har, you're not as pretty as Lilly, nor as cute as Albus, or as endearing as the absent James. No, I don't think you're my favourite Potter after all."

Harrison made a grand show of clutching his chest in pain and collapsing to his knees, his children giggled at his melodramatic actions. "My lady, thou hast forsaken me!"

"Get up off your knees, Milord. Kneeling does not suit you. Also, I smell burning," she deadpanned the last statement.

Cursing, Harrison leapt to his feet, racing back to the kitchen to check on his risotto, a still giggling Lilly and Albus trailing after him. He passed the curious heads of Melissa and Jack as they peered out from the playroom to see where their friends had disappeared to before deciding they, too, would follow Harrison into the kitchen. "Daddy, can we have a cookie while we wait for dinner?" chimed in Lilly, puppy-eyes wide and at the ready despite Harrison being too busing trying to salvage the risotto to turn and look at her.

"Not now, Lilly-flower. Can you guys go back to the play room? I don't want you all near the stove and the knives. Why don't you introduce your friends to your Auntie?"

"But daddy! I want cookies!" pouted Lilly.

"In a moment, Lilly. Go back to the play room. Fei! You lied to me! It isn't burning."

"Oh?" she sauntered into the kitchen slowly, a smirk on her face, "my bad, must have been my imagination. Do forgive me, Milord."

"Wench," he growled, turning around, "you so did that on purpose."

"It's not my fault you insist on cooking dishes that are beyond your bumbling British fingers, Milord," came her sing-song reply.

"Oh and you would know how? I could be marvelous at this!" Harrison protested.

"Now Harrison, we wouldn't want your nose to grow ten inches or for your tongue to start glowing purple now, would we? Besides, Lilly, Albus, who makes better food? You father, or me?"

"That's cheating Fei!"

"No it isn't; answer the question sweetie."

"Well, daddy makes good cookies, but Auntie makes better food," ventured a hesitant Albus.

"Yeah!" agreed Lilly, "Daddy's real good at baking but I like Auntie's food more!"

Fei smirked, "And there we have it Har; you're a wonderful baker and a more than capable cook, but even your own children agree that I am much better at this cooking business."

"Slytherin," he spat, eye dancing with laughter.

"Please, I'd have talked the hat into putting me in Ravenclaw since you could apparently talk it into putting you in Gryffindor; green is _so_ not my colour," Fei scoffed.

"Now you just sound like one of those pureblood girls who think of nothing but fashion and marriage."

She scrunched her nose up in distaste, "I beg to differ. One can have good taste in fashion without becoming a trophy wife. Besides, my best friend is Allison Tremaine, she's an editor in a fashion magazine – how could I possibly walk out without having some of that rubbed off on me? Oh that reminds me!" she exclaimed, turning to Lilly, "Here sweetie, I saw these and they reminded me of you."

Lilly watched with wide, gleeful eyes and Fei reached into her pocket and drew out a pair of delicate white earrings shaped to the likeness of lilies with a crystal set in the middle of each blossom. "These are for you, Lilly-flower, and I have a new book for you too Albus. It's from a new fantasy saga about dragons, I think you'll love it," she spoke as she handed over the earrings to an adoring Lilly and pulled out the book for Albus.

"You're spoiling my children, Fei," said a chagrined Harrison, a fond smile giving him away.

"Well who else am I supposed to spoil besides me favourite not-nephews and not-niece?" she demanded, hand on her hips with a mock frown.

He held his hands up in surrender, "Alright, alright. Now go be a good auntie and entertain the children in the playroom while I finish me average cooking."

"Yes, Milord, at your service. Come along children, let's go see what James and his friend is up to. I've thought up a new game that we can play, it'll be so much fun!" she declared, ushering the children from the kitchen with the practiced ease of a long-time designated babysitter, learning Harrison to shake his head behind her with a wry grin.

* * *

"Hotch, Hotch!"

Aaron turned towards the excited shouts of Spencer, waiting as the younger man jogged to catch up with him. "Yes Spencer?"

"Hotch, I think this killer might be invested in the myth of lycanthropes or even think that he's a lycanthrope! I had a suspicion due to the spacing of the killings and I had Garcia double check for me, the estimated times of death all coincide with when the moon is either full, or waxing or waning gibbous. That, along with the teeth marks of the Canis Dirus leads me to think that he may be trying to re-enact the legends of the old. In ancient Greek mythology, Lycaon is cursed with lycanthropy for committing murder, cannibalism, and impiety. The Unsub could believe that he is a lycanthrope and is attacking people who he may believe to have cursed him to this form or trying to get revenge on those who have turned him in for his crimes before," finished a breathless Spencer.

The team was silent, staring at him with wide-eyes. A man who believed himself to be a werewolf? They had encountered even more bizarre Unsubs but, werewolves? "And the teethmarks?"

Spencer shrugged, "I still haven't come up with an explanation for that one yet."

"So this is all about some messed up dude who thinks that he's a werewolf and is trying to get back at the people that he thinks made him this way?" exclaimed an incredulous Derek, "And what the heck is a gibbous?"

"It's our best bet right now," said Emily, "It's not as if we have anything else to go on but Spencer's theory. And it's waxing gibbous and waning gibbous, Derek, they're the cycles that come before and after a full moon respectively and, according to legend, are enough to trigger a transformation from lycanthropes."

Derek just stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" she asked defensively, "I liked astronomy, it was a cool course!"

"Hotch," J.J. jogged up to the group with a furrowed brow, "there's an Agent Martin asking to speak to you, sir."

A broad-chested man, around forty years of age, standing six-foot two strode confidently behind J.J. His hair was greying at the temples but he had the look of someone who was used to giving orders and used to having his orders obeyed without question. He came forwards with one hand outstretched to shake Aaron's hand. "SSA Hotchner, SSA Martin, from the MPR division of the FBI, I've heard a lot of good things about you and your team."

Aaron shook his hand calmly, "A pleasure, SSA Martin, might I enquire as to what brings you here to us today?"

"I'm afraid, Agent Hotchner, that I'm here to ask you to withdraw you and your team from this case. Due to some recently uncovered evidence, this case and its origins is now considered classified and falls under the jurisdiction of the MPR department. I'm terribly sorry you all had to come out here for nothing but I do have to ask that you all pack up and vacate the premises as soon as possible and not to speak of or investigate this case any further; my team will take over from here."

The rest of the team was frozen in shock; they were being pulled out?

* * *

Jack swung his legs back and forth beneath the table, happily digging into his dinner. Albus had introduced him to his Auntie Fei, who "isn't really my aunt, but I love her, so I call her Auntie anyways". She had been loads of fun, teaching them new games and playing with them too, like Mister Potter would when he wasn't busy. His daddy rarely had any time to play with him and his Auntie Jessica usually just told him to play by himself while she watched.

Mister Potter promised to play with them after dinner too! He said he'd have to do the dishes first, but then Auntie Fei (he hadn't been sure what to call her but she said it was fine if he called her auntie as well) had told him she would take care of the dishes and that James had promised to help her out so he could feel free to play with them instead. He'd promised to take them all to the park tomorrow afternoon too! Lilly and Melissa had begged Auntie Fei to come back tomorrow and go to the park with them and she had eventually relented under the persistent pleading of the two five year-olds, promising to visit them during her lunch break.

"Will you stay for dinner tomorrow then, Fei?" Mister Potter had asked.

"I think you meant 'Will you cook dinner tomorrow, Fei?' and the answer, Milord, is no. I have a date with Marcus tomorrow night, hey, don't make that face at me!"

"I still don't get why you're going out with _Flint_ of all people, Fei. You could do so much better," grumbled a disgruntled Mister Potter.

"Well you don't see me complaining about who you date! Just wait till you do start dating, Har, I'll nit-pick at them like no tomorrow and you'll regret holding your stupid grudges against Slytherins," Auntie Fei had insisted, waving her fork menacingly at Mister Potter.

Jack wondered who this 'Marcus' was and why Mister Potter didn't seem to like him. What was a Sli-der-in anyways? And why would Auntie Fei want to date a boy? Wasn't she afraid of catching cooties? Girls have cooties too, well, not Auntie Fei, because she was awesome and promised to bring _him _a present next time too! She said he could visit her where she worked if his daddy said yes too! But he still didn't know what a flint was. Right now though, he had to focus on eating all of his vegetables because Mister Potter said that anyone who didn't finish their vegetables didn't get cake!

* * *

They had argued – politely, of course, with Prentiss handling the inter-department diplomacy when Hotchner looked ready to explode – over whether or not SSA Martin had the power to pull them form the case. It turned out that he did and he even called up Strauss to tell them to back down.

Aaron hadn't been happy about it, none of the team was pleased with this decision but by the time the sun was setting, it was determined that their hands were well and fully tied and they had no choice but to leave. A tightly smiling but smug Agent Martin bid them farewell as them moved to load themselves into the cars and return to the station. From there they set about packing everything, a displeased air hanging around them, the silence only broken periodically by the sound of equipment being abused and Derek's quiet snarls and half-hearted threats towards both Strauss and Agent Martin's mysterious MPR department.

They had refused to even clarify what the MPR department was in charge of, heck, no one would tell them what the acronym of MPR stood for! It was frustrating being told over and over again that they "simply did not have the required clearance to be in the know. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, agents, but I'm sure you all understand protocol and all". None of the agents on the MPR team had acquiesced to answer any of their questions and the increasing amount of answers including the word "classified" had frustrated the team to the point where they had to force themselves to stop asking lest they lost their temper.

Aaron was certain that Derek came the closest to physically assaulting one of the agents in his frustration while Spencer had been wringing his hands in an increasingly troubled manner the longer the answers to his questions had continued to elude him. Speaking of Spencer...

"Morgan, where's Reid?"

Derek looked up from the files he was stacking, "Isn't he with J.J.?"

"Spencer didn't ride in the car with us, I thought he was with you and Emily," the blonde chimed in.

"He didn't ride with us. Wait, are you telling me that Pretty Boy is still back there at the site alone?" exclaimed Derek, "Someone call those MPR boys to drive him over."

J.J. whipped out her phone and dialed the number quickly, pacing the room. "Agent Martin? This is SA Jennifer Jareau from the BAU team, we spoke an hour prior? Yes, yes. One of our team members seems to have been left behind in the confusion of the switch, Doctor Spencer Reid. Could you please locate him for us and perhaps have one of our agents give him a ride to the station?"

She was silent for a moment, "Of course, of course. Please do. Thank you for your time."

J.J. hung up and then turned to the rest of the team with solemn eyes, "None of them have seen Spencer since we left."

And the team found themselves frozen for the umpteenth time that day.

* * *

Notes:

*I realized now that I spelled Ginevra's name wrong previously and will be correcting that from now on  
** I also realized that the spelling of Lilly's name was not consistent in the past chapters. To clarify things, her proper name in **this** fanfic remains Lilly Luna Potter as she was first introduced. I apologize for any confusion.

* * *

A very belated Merry Christmas to you all along with my sincere apologies for the wait and many thanks for the numerous reviews. You guys are awesome! Again, if I made any mistakes, please let me know, all of my writing are un-betad; it's four-thirty in the morning right now so please, forgive me. Poor Aaron and team, bureaucracy in any country can be such a bitch.

Show some love?

- Saadie


	5. Chapter 5

**Scattering Shadows**

**Chapter Five**

**By: Saadie**

* * *

A/N: OMG IT'S NOT ABANDONED! Sorry for the wait, Life refuses to stop happening and school turned into relentless weeks of midterms and due dates. Still is, but I thought I'd sneak this one out. Short, I know, but I hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or Harry Potter; still broke, still pining but that doesn't change anything.

* * *

"Daddy, Daddy!" Lilly yelled as she thundered down the stairs, "Look at my hair! Look at how pretty Auntie Fei made it!"

Harrison took in the orderly braids twisted into a complicated pattern he'd never be able to replicate even with magic and smiled at his daughter's obvious delight, "You look lovely, sweetheart. Now, why don't you go grab your cardigan and put your shoes on? Wait for me by the door, I'll be right there with your brothers."

"Okay daddy!" she skipped off happily.

It was at times like this that Harrison wondered if he'd taken something crucial from his children's lives through the divorce, especially Lilly – did his little girl need a mother in her life? Try as he might, he knew he couldn't be absolutely everything that his little girl needs. He couldn't talk to her about clothes, or do her hair. When she got older, what was he going to do when she got her period or had boy trouble? "_But Ginny never did her hair or talk to her about clothes_," a traitorous little voice in his head whispered.

He shook his head slightly, coming out of his daze, and hollered up the stairs, "Boys! If you don't come down within the next two minutes, we're leaving without you!"

Twin shouts of, "Coming Dad!" echoed down the stairwell and he rolled his eyes fondly but turned towards the door where the rest of the children were waiting.

Fei came down to join them seconds later, shrugging on a thin jacket and listening with half a year to the excited chatter of the two five year-old girls. Fei had painted both of the girls' toes last night before she left and had become an instant new favourite of Lilly's friend. The fact that both of the little girls now sported intricate hair-dos much too overdone for a simple trip to the park only cemented her overall awesomeness in their eyes. She offered him a smile but as she opened her mouth to say something, a knock on his door cut her off. She raised a brow in silent question but he just furrowed his brow and shook his head in the negative.

Without a word, Fei herded the kids away from the front foyer, a fact that Harrison was grateful for; Fei both understood his paranoia and the actual ever-present threat aimed towards his children. Once the children were safely out of the way, Harrison opened the door, fingers resting lightly on his wand holster.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter! I hope I'm not intruding?"

Harrison groaned internally at the sight of the man who had decided to grace his doorstep. Forcing a smile on his face, Harrison reluctantly stepped back to let the man inside his house, "Agent Selfridge, what brings you to my door on this fine spring day?"

The man in question gave a heavy sigh and ran his hand over slicked back hair (privately, Harrison wondered why he bothered and if the gel ever got his hand stuck to his hand), "Not very good news, Mr. Potter. Some members of the FBI were investigating a case that turned out to have connections to our world. They were pulling out when it seems that the perpetrator of the crimes decided to kidnap one of the Mundane agents."

Harrison frowned, that was a troubling development, "That's very unfortunate, Agent Selfridge, but that hardly answers my question as to why you're knocking on my door."

"Ah, well, , I'm here on behalf of the MPR to extend an invitation to you in regards to clearing up this case. We are positive that having your expertise to draw on would be the best insurance against any _unfortunate_ casualties, I'm sure you'll agree?" the man offered with a sleazy smile.

Harrison could feel a headache coming on. The last thing that he wanted to do was get involved with the MPR but that damned hero complex of his was already urging him to step forward, allowing the news of the unfortunate mundane agents who had been captured to tug incessantly at his heartstrings.

"You must understand that I'll need more information than that before I am willing to make a decision, Agent Selfridge. By now, you should at least have a lead?"

"Yes, yes, of course Mr. Potter," he nodded before flicking his wand to cast a _muffliato_, "The investigation right now points towards a male werewolf in his twenties. Due to the less orderly Magicks in the Americas, he is not your typical werewolf and retains partial control of his mind when he changes; we have reason to believe he is very much in control of his actions through his choice of victims. So far, it had been confirmed that he has killed seven victims but the complete body count seems to be climbing. We have agents scouring the expanse of the park as we speak but the area to cover is large and even with magic it will take at least a day or two to recover all the bodies and confirm the total casualties."

Scowling heavily, Harrison shifted his gaze towards Fei who was quick to signal to him that she understood the situation and would watch the children for him until his return if his decision was to go. He snorted lightly, ignoring Agent Selfridge's intent stare. Typical Fei. Here he was struggling with the decision of whether or not to interfere and she already knew that he was going to plunge right in eventually. Such a Ravenclaw, just like her cousin.

What was it with all of his female friends knowing him better than he knew himself, anyways? Hermione, Luna, and now Fei; maybe it was a woman's intuition or something to do with the fairer sex.

Mentally, he could hear Hermione lecturing him about being _too much_ of a Gryffindor again before tearfully telling him to be careful while Luna would just give him that knowing smile. He could almost feel Fei's resigned exasperation from where he stood. Steeling himself, he exhaled noisily, "Co-ordinates, Agent Selfridge? I shall be along after I make some arrangements."

A smug smile spread across the man's face and Harrison was hard pressed not to wipe it off despite having been the one to unwittingly put it there. "Of course, Mr. Potter. Here," he offered Harry a folded bit of parchment, "At your leisure, I shall return first to inform the department of your decision."

He then turned on his heel and vanished with a small pop, confident that the Potter household wards would conceal his use of magic from any observing Mundanes in the area. With the agent gone, Harrison was free to slam the door and sink to the floor with a groan, running his fingers through increasingly unruly hair. He could hear the sounds of pattering footsteps of the children rushing towards him with Fei's surer steps in the lead.

"I hate my life," he groaned, voice muffled in his hands.

"And yet you ceaselessly throw yourself into these situations; if you're going to do so much then stop complaining about it."

Harrison put his hand up to flip Fei the bird, only stopping last minute when he remembered his children were here. Instead he chose to peer up at her with the most pitiful expression he could muster, "Will you watch the kids for me, Fei? I know you have dinner with Flint tonight…"

She rolled her eyes and reached forward to flick his forehead.

"Ow!" he recoiled, pouting.

"Go, you overgrown lug. You and your ridiculous hero complex need to get up and change; even you can't think hunting for werewolves in jeans and a sweater is a good idea."

"And the kids?"

"I'll take them. Marcus won't mind spending the day in and he'll help me watch the little munchkins; we'll be fine without you."

He frowned, "Does Flint even like children? Are you sure-"

"Marcus is surprisingly popular with the children, don't you worry about it. And if he'd rather not, then we'll just cancel our date and I'll floo someone if I need the help. Now get off your lazy bum and get ready," she pulled at his arm until he stood and smacked his butt to hurry him along.

"Bloody! Woman, stop being so abusive! This is sexual harassment!"

"I'm just motivating you. Aren't I, children?"

The kids giggled and Lilly rushed forward to head butt him from behind, "Daddy, go! Daddy, go! Auntie Fei said you have to go be a superhero now and superheroes have costumes!"

"Alright, alright! Geez, my own children against me!" he laughed.

Behind the laughter and the now light-hearted situation though, he was worried. He raised his gaze, searching for the eyes of his laughing friend, searching for something but not sure what it was. "_I know you, Jamie, you'd be restless forever unless you went. Go. I'll take it from here. Everything will work out fine_," her eyes seemed to say.

He relaxed. That was all the reassurance he needed.

* * *

Derek snapped his phone shut and hurled it across the room with a snarl. Nothing. It's been three hours since Spencer was taken and there was still absolutely no trace of him whatsoever. Not even signs of a struggle. He turned his attention towards the bed and started to punch the pillow repeatedly.

The MPR had refused to release any leads and Derek had nearly punched them. Rossi had had to drag him bodily out of the room with Derek fighting him every step of the way; even Hotch had lost his temper near the end and his conversation with the MPR agents had escalated into a screaming match to everyone's surprise. It wasn't the first time that Spencer had unfortunately been kidnapped, but it was the first time that it was their own people, so to speak, that were impeding any attempts to retrieve him.

It was maddening, it was beyond frustrating; Derek had never thought that he would one day lose his best friend to some stupid rules and inter-department politics.

The only bright side to the situation, if you could call it that at all, was that the MPR had informed them an hour ago that they had called in a favour with a retired specialist with a perfect track record on cases. "Not a single life is ever lost in his cases, well not on our side anyways. Can't say the same for the other guys," Agent Martin had boasted.

The pillow finally burst under the barrage of fists, leaving Derek to breathe heavily, heedless of the feathers decorating half the room.

Well, they had better hope that this _specialist_ of their brought back Spencer to them unharmed. Or the next broken thing at his feet wasn't going to be a pillow.

* * *

Jack ran hand in hand with Albus, screaming as they dodged James's attempt at grabbing them. He had been a little confused and sad that Mr. Harrison couldn't come to the park with them, but Miss Fei had told him that Mr. Harrison had something really important to do and that someone really needed his help. She had still taken all of them to the park like they had promised, so it was okay.

"Go from that side Tony! Cut them off! Cut them off!" James hollered.

"Okay!" the other boy shouted, out of breath but determined to win.

Looking at Albus, Jack nodded before the two of them split up and ran in opposite directions, Albus pretending to hide something under his shirt while Jack clutched the flag tightly under his own shirt.

"After them!"

Breathlessly, Jack darted towards the relative safety of the play structure the girls were on. Scaling the ladder as quickly as he could, he ducked behind Lilly, "Shh!" he shushed.

She giggled but complied, waving Melissa over to help block him from view a little more. Peering through the bars, he could see that Albus had made a run for the bench Miss Fei was sitting on, ducking behind his Aunt who gamely shielded him from James's attempts to swipe at him until Albus flew out from behind her and tried to scale the tree behind them.

Tony hurtled out of nowhere and tackled Albus to the ground; the younger boy shrieked indignantly when his brother tried to pry his hands apart and get the 'flag'. Now was his chance! Jack abandoned his hiding spot and sprinted for the dome. He heard cries from behind him when they realized Albus didn't have the flag but Jack ignored it all and focused on reaching the dome. Half-crashing into the metal structure, Jack tried his best to scale it as fast as possible.

Reaching the top before either James or Tony could grab him, Jack pulled out the flag and plunged the stick into the hole at the top of the structure with a triumphant yell.

* * *

Harrison stabbed a pin into the last co-ordinate on the map of the park, "And here. I want a team of men stationed here, we're not taking any chances people."

He whirled around to face the room, grim-faced and barking out orders at agents working hard to contain their awe; they were working with the Conqueror, it was stunningly intimidating and an absolute honour. Three of the new recruits found that they had to remind themselves to breath.

"We have pinpointed the general area of his den and these strategic points will allow us to surround him and cut off possible escape routes if the teams guard them properly. **No** heroics people. No charging in thinking you'll save the day. The Rune-Casters will be there to maintain a ward that will prevent the spread of lycanthropy if you are bit within that area; it does not prevent injuries, you will still get hurt, can still be killed. The objective of the mission is first and foremost to separate the target from the hostage. The safe return of Spencer Reid is our priority. We can hunt down the bastard later if he gets away, but we can't bring a man back to life."

The agents nodded, some jotting down quick notes while others glanced around the room quickly to locate their squad mates.

"Remember to aim to disable first and foremost. I expect there to be silver somewhere on your persons as protection. Night has almost fallen; we have roughly three hours before the moon rises and this all goes to hell. Suit up people, we're leaving in five!" Harrison ordered, turning sharply on his heel and marching out the door.

Merlin, he hated the pressure of leading all these people who expected him to fix everything, yet at the same time, standing at the front of the room and giving out orders felt natural, nostalgic even. Huffing a breath, he hurried into the room temporarily allotted to him and briskly changed into protective gear. Thank Morgana that Americans didn't believe in battle robes – the last thing anyone ever needed was excess material whipping around, begging to get caught in something or set on fire. If that was one thing that Aurors back home ought to copy, it was this.

* * *

His eyes were crusted over and his limbs heavy as if weighed down with an extra twenty pounds each. With a groan, Spencer tried to turn onto his side only to find a wall blocking his way. The air around him smelled of damp earth, roots and plants. Was he still in the park? What had happened?

Rough hands closed around his shoulders and someone's _tongue_ ran up the side of his neck. Spencer shrieked and tried to move away but the person's hands were like iron bands, hard and unyielding. "You're awake. Good. I didn't think you'd taste this good; maybe I'll just eat you whole."

Spencer jerked his head away from the gravel-like voice and the pungent breath of his captor. The case. The Unsub. Being pulled out. Walking after Derek, hearing a noise. Turning and then nothing. Oh God, the Unsub had him. Again. Why was it always him?

"Don't worry, it won't hurt for long. I'm only doing this to teach you all a lesson. None of this would have happened if you had all just learned to stay away from my property!" the Unsub hissed.

Spencer whimpered as he was shaken, head whipping from side to side painfully. It was dark in here, some sort of cave dug into the ground. He tried to make out his captor but his gaze was met only by darkness. "You don't have to do this," he tried to reason with the unseen man, "If you let me go now, we can help you."

A dark chuckle, "I don't need the help of you filthy Mundanes. You just sit there and be quiet. Don't bother trying to shout. No one will hear you. They won't find you here, at least not until it's too late."

* * *

That was a huge gap between updates and for that I apologize. I seem to be apologizing every chapter but that doesn't make me any less sorry each time I say it. I know this chapter is short but before I continue, there's a little something I need you all to help me with. I don't mean reviewing (although those are certainly very much coveted and appreciated – and a surefire way to guilt trip me into updating), but rather I have put up a **poll** in my profile. Please head on over and vote as it will have impact as to how the story progresses. The poll will stay up and open for the next two weeks after which the results may be announced or hoarded like SHIELD hoards secrets and slowly revealed through the course of the story.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have reviewed and to apologize for not getting back to the majority of my reviewers. I can't believe the amount of response this story has gotten, it's still surreal for me. It means a lot to me that you guys have taken the time to let me know what you like, what works and what doesn't, as well as what information I haven't included that is driving you up the wall. Please, be patient with me, I promise I read each and every one (with the utmost glee, might I add) and took them into consideration; answers will be revealed as the story goes on. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Show some love?

-Saadie


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